Surah 2 Al-Baqara — Ayah 28
كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَٰتًۭا فَأَحْيَٰكُمْ ۖ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned.
kayfa takfurūna bil-lahi wakuntum amwātan fa-aḥyākum thumma yumītukum thumma yuḥ'yīkum thumma ilayhi tur'jaʿūna
Word by word
- كَيْفَ kayfa How
- تَكْفُرُونَ takfurūna (can) you disbelieve
- بِٱللَّهِ bil-lahi in Allah
- وَكُنتُمْ wakuntum While you were
- أَمْوَٰتًۭا amwātan dead
- فَأَحْيَـٰكُمْ ۖ fa-aḥyākum then He gave you life
- ثُمَّ thumma then
- يُمِيتُكُمْ yumītukum He will cause you to die
- ثُمَّ thumma then
- يُحْيِيكُمْ yuḥ'yīkum He will give you life
- ثُمَّ thumma then
- إِلَيْهِ ilayhi to Him
- تُرْجَعُونَ tur'jaʿūna you will be returned
Tafsir · Ibn Kathir (Abridged)
Allah testifies to the fact that He exists and that He is the Creator and the Sustainer Who has full authority over His servants,
(How can you disbelieve in Allah)
How can anyone deny Allah's existence or worship others with Him while;
(You were dead and He gave you life) meaning, He brought them from the state of non-existence to life. Similarly, Allah said,
(Were they created by nothing Or were they themselves the creators Or did they create the heavens and the earth Nay, but they have no firm belief) (52:35-36) and,
(Has there not been over man a period of time, when he was not a thing worth mentioning) (76:1).
There are many other Ayat on this subject. Ibn Jarir reported from `Ata' that Ibn `Abbas said that,
(Seeing that you were dead and He gave you life) means, "You did not exist beforehand. You were nothing until Allah created you; He will bring death to you and then bring you back to life during Resurrection." Ibn `Abbas then said, "This is similar to Allah's statement;
(They will say: "Our Lord! You have made us to die twice and You have given us life twice.") (40:11)"